Hubble rules out one alternative to dark energy
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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have ruled out an alternate theory on the nature of dark energy after recalculating the expansion rate of the universe to unprecedented accuracy.
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One alternative to that hypothesis is that an enormous bubble of relatively empty space eight billion light-years across surrounds our galactic neighborhood. If we lived near the center of this void, observations of galaxies being pushed away from each other at accelerating speeds would be an illusion.
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This hypothesis has been invalidated because astronomers have refined their understanding of the universe's present expansion rate.
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The Hubble observations were conducted by the SHOES (Supernova Ho for the Equation of State) team that works to refine the accuracy of the Hubble constant to a precision that allows for a better characterization of dark energy's behavior. The observations helped determine a figure for the universe's current expansion rate to an uncertainty of just 3.3 percent. The new measurement reduces the error margin by 30 percent over Hubble's previous best measurement of 2009.
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Riess also says the present uncertainty figure should 'be cut in two' before the James Webb takes over (launch date later this decade).
As well as Dark Matter, Dark Energy is here to stay folks !
Cheers